Like just about everywhere else in the marketplace, interactivity and networking are big priorities in the arts world.

In the world of iPhones and Facebook, arts patrons are no longer content to just buy tickets and attend performances. They want to have more involvement, perhaps even have some say in how programming decisions are made.

That’s where a new, intriguingly innovative initiative by the Colorado Music Festival comes in.

Typically, when a musical organization wants to commission a new work, it finds a donor or a small group of donors who are willing to foot the bill. The public usually doesn’t find out about it until the composition is ready for its premiere.

Festival supporters are invited to vote on-line for which of four composers (nominated by Christie) should be chosen for the project. Each vote costs $10, and participants can vote as many times as they want, with all the proceeds going toward the $10,000 needed for the commission.

The voters will become part of the New Community Commissioning Club, which has already been nicknamed Click! And their names will be inscribed on the score of the finished piece of music.

“It just occurred to me that in this era of micro-finance that we could create something where a patron could invest a little bit of time and not have to make a huge financial commitment but could still be part of the game,” Christie said.

To add a further wrinkle, the festival has set the end of August as the deadline for voting and raising the money.

The four compositional candidates for the commission are: Enrico Chapela[4], Jay Greenberg[5], Behzad Ranjbaran[6] and Patrick Zimmerli. In choosing them, Christie sought a mix of ages, nationalities and musical aesthetics.

“This idea is to try to make it feel like anybody can participate, not just the most well-heeled or the people who are most used to giving,” Christie said. “We’re all trying to engage people.”

To take part in the commissioning project or for more information on the composers, go to comusic.org/goto/click[7].